Dromond (Ship)
Description A large groundling galley, the Dromond is long and slender, and has better handling in space than most groundling ships. Despite this, the Dromond is fragile, and leaves much to be desired. Relatively heavily armed for a ship in its size, the Dromond's weaponry is meant more to discourage attack than to actually be used in combat. Dromonds tend to be quick to surrender in combat situations, unless faced with situations in which being taken alive is a worse fate than death, such as attacks from neogi. Crew When used as a sea-going vessel, a Dromond typically has a crew of about 200 men, and can carry as many as 100 warriors. If this many were carried into space, they would quickly suffocate. Instead, a space-going Dromond usually carries about 20 men, which is much safer, and makes the Dromond capable of journeys lasting several months. Dromonds poweres by Oars of the Void may carry more crew if they are using more than the minimum number of Oars, but this is only common if the Dromond is being used as a short-range troop transport. Ship Uses Trader: For a groundling vessel, the Dromond makes a relatively good trading ship in space. Able to carry an average amount of cargo for its size, and requiring a relatively small crew for a groundling ship in general, and a galley in particular. Despite this, a Dromond trader will typically only operate in safe areas of space, since it is vulnerable to pirates. Troop Transport: Over short distances, Dromonds make good troop transports, being able to accomidate as many as 300 men. Since these ships can easily break up in the face of enemy fire, which would result in a great loss of life, Dromonds used in this fashion usually mount a full 16 pairs of Oars of the Void, allowing them to achieve SR 8 and outrun most potential attackers, reaching their destination intact. Other Configurations War Dromond: Some Dromonds are modified to be heavily-armed warships. These ships feature raised castles fore and aft to serve as firing platforms, hulls that have been thickened and armour plated, a sharp piercing ram, and replace the weaponry with a pair of greek fire projectors in the forecastle and a single heavy catapult in the aft castle. The net result is a vessel with MC F, AR 7, and a mere 3 tons of cargo space. It should be noted that this is not a modification typically performed by spacefarers, and instead represents the groundling warship variant of the Dromond. Spacefarers will typically purchase a more suitable warship rather than modify the Dromond to serve in combat. Despite this, a War Dromond makes an effective short-range defense craft used by many groundling nations to protect themselves from space-borne attackers, especially since for such short-range defense it usually carries a full groundling crew, which is capable of overwhelming the marines of all but the largest of attacking ships. War Dromonds operated in this manner by groundling nations tend to carry a full complement of Oars of the Void.